It was a sunny weekend on the waterfront in front of Snuneymuxw First Nation’s Reserve #1 as hundreds of people from as far as Hope, B.C. gathered to participate in war canoe races, enjoy comfort food such as Indian tacos, and soak up the good vibes.
Snuneymuxw Days 2025 was the third annual summer festival hosted by Snuneymuxw First Nation, but its roots go back 70 years with the nation’s annual canoe races.
This year’s festivities saw 12 visiting canoes participating in canoe races at Reserve #1, according to Snuneymuxw Chief Micheal Wyse, Xum’silum. The festival also held a basketball tournament, a jam session at the Snuneymuxw Longhouse and a game called Lahal (bone game), as well as a kids zone and marketplace.
Wyse said he’s already looking forward to adding a soccer tournament and outrigger canoe race next year.
“We’re excited about that,” he said. “It’s been a great thing for our community.”
From Snuneymuxw to Brazil, paddling expertise passed down between generations
This year, the Snuneymuxw Island Brave Canoe Club will also be representing Canada at the 2025 International Va’a Federation (IVF) World Distance Championship in Brazil from August 16 to 20.
Wyse said Snuneymuxw has had some special people pass on the culture and teachings about being a successful canoe paddler in the community and is “very thankful that we’ve had time to spend with the old-timers, to share their experiences and prepare us for situations like this.”
For the final canoe races at Snuneymuxw Days on Sunday evening, Wyse doubled the prize money in appreciation of the athletes who waited for the tide to come in for the final races.
Welcoming Tribal Journeys
The Tribal Journeys canoes also landed on Snuneymuxw lands on the weekend and were welcomed by the nation.
The canoes participating in the journey, called Paddle to Elwha, departed Klahoose First Nation lands on July 21 before arriving on Snuneymuxw lands on July 25, per the event’s website. They will continue on to the lands of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, along with paddlers from other nearby areas, and land at the mouth of the Elwha River in Port Angeles on July 31. The annual journey re-opens and honours ancestral water “highways” that were used for millennia, as well as connection to the land and water.
“We said ‘yes, please come and rest and get ready for your next journey to your next community’,” Wyse said.
‘It’s our way of life’
Kate Good, Snuneymuxw Days event director, said the event came together in a good way thanks to the hard work of a team of volunteers who she said “handled it like a boss.”
“I haven’t even had time to catch my breath from all of this, but it’s huge,” she told The Discourse at the end of the event on Sunday. “It’s a great accomplishment for myself and my whole team.”
Good said a lot of youth in the community look forward to participating in the races and the addition of categories for kids under 10 and seven years of age this year opened opportunities for all youth to get involved.
Good noted that activities like canoeing keep youth occupied in a healthy way, especially given the danger of drug and alcohol use amongst youth.
“We’re in some scary times right now with drugs and alcohol,” Good said. “So with this, we’re all here as a big family, and this is what we do every summer. Then we switch into the longhouse all winter. It’s our way of life.”
Revitalizing Coast Salish culture
Brooklyn Chalmers was working a booth for Ay Lelum The Good House of Design in the community market. She told The Discourse that as a Métis person who grew up in Snuneymuxw territory, she appreciated being able to participate in Snuneymuxw Days.
“It means the world for me to be able to learn more about the community whose land I have been raised on,” Chalmers said.
She said working at Ay Lelum has been fulfilling for her, especially given the stories told by the artwork that is created by the design house. She said being able to come to events and share the work with the community means a lot to her.
Ay Lelum is a Snuneymuxw-based family business founded by the Good family, with a retail store on Raines Road as well as an online shop.
A year ago, the family lost master carver and artist Joel Good ts’usqinuxun. Chalmers said that it has been a priority over the past year to honour his legacy and keep sharing his artwork.
Chalmers said her favorite part of Snuneymuxw Days has been seeing children connect with their community and culture.
“You can see they have a sense of pride in their culture attending this event,” she said. “The Elders get to see this generation celebrate something that was once suppressed so heavily. It’s quite heartwarming.”
Chalmers would like to see more people from outside First Nations communities attend the event next year so people can meet each other and “learn about whose land they live on.”
“We cannot continue to do this work revitalizing Coast Salish culture, hul’q’umi’num language, stories and Snuneymuxw artwork without the support of non-Indigenous people investing in our artwork,” she said.
Connecting people in Nanaimo and Snuneymuxw
Nanaimo city councillor Paul Manly attended the event with family, stopping by to shop at the Ay Lelum booth after watching the morning races on Sunday and eating an Indian taco.
“It can be really exciting watching those races, especially when they’re coming around the floats, and how close they can get to each other and the competitiveness,” he said.
Manly said that long before he was an elected official, he would watch and volunteer to videotape the annual canoe races.
“It’s a great opportunity for people living in Nanaimo to come down and connect with people in Snuneymuxw, connect with their culture,” he said. “This is their territory, this is their culture and we are really uninvited guests on their land. It helps build relationships and understanding and it’s very positive.”
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